Who is Rose Tyler?
by TheWolfAndTheRose99
Summary: River gives the doctor a letter. The girl he love is in danger, and he will save her. Set some point after Clara. Not really a RiverxDoctor thing, but not total river-bashing. Just the truth.
1. Chapter 1

"Doctor?"

"Yes River?"

"Who is Rose Tyler?"

The Doctor nearly chokes on his tea. _Where_ could she have possibly heard that name?

"Huh?" he stutters, in case he heard wrong

"Rose Tyler, a letter came whizzing through from the vortex addressed to you from her" River holds up an A4 sheet of paper. The Doctor quickly snatches it out of her hand.

"Calm down, I haven't peaked, what's so important about Rose Tyler? Old companion or something"

"More than that..." The Doctor mutters.

"Oh so you had another little _girlfriend_ before me doctor? You cheeky boy." River says with a cheeky wink. But she can hardly disguise the uncertainty in her voice. The Doctor looks up at River Song, the woman he pretends to love for her own sake. Well maybe today he's done pretending.

"Rose Tyler is the only woman I've ever truly loved. And I still do really. Three regenerations and I've never quite gotten out of her grasp on my heats. It's sad really." He says without thinking. He can barely gather any thoughts as soon as Rose Tyler is in his mind. He still dreams of her, every night without fail. He looks up at River, who looks like she's just been stabbed.

"Oh... right…" she says quietly. Because that's who Melody Pond is. A girl who can hold in all of her emotions.

"What does she say in the letter?" she asks. But The Doctor just folds it up and puts it inside his jacket, without saying another word. "Right of course," River mutters "singing towers of Darillium it is then?" she asks and The Doctor smiles. He can grant River her dying wish. He can love her, even if it's only for tonight. Because after tonight she will go to the library, and she will never come back out.

When The Doctor takes her back to her archaeologist meeting, he kisses her goodbye, but since the letter he can't help but imagine she's Rose. And that thought really does break his hearts, but he puts on a brave face for Rivers sake.

When he leaves her, and heads back into the TARDIS he thinks of her and the wonderful times they had together, even though his heart wasn't quite in it. They had fun with her parents, Amy and Rory Pond, and they had good times with Clara Oswin Oswald, and all the other friends they had met along the way. But he could grieve her properly later. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out the letter. It read:

_Dear Doctor,_

_This is going to all sound very weird and strange and you're totally going to freak out and be angry and stuff but just read the whole letter through first okay. Just promise me you'll do that okay?_

_Right first things first, I'm in the parallel universe still and this letter was sent through a small crack in time and space and I don't have much time._

_Your clone, James he called himself, has changed. I don't know what or how but one day he was fine, next he went crazy. Trying to take over the whole of the earth, and he's doing a pretty good job. This is all I could hope for, that you'll come and save me. Reality itself is cracking, like cracking enough where you could maybe get through. This whole universe is destined for disaster; please I need your help._

_Mum and Pete and Tony are dead, James killed them. Now doctor before you get angry, don't get angry. Please be calm enough to sort this, I don't want them to die in vain. James is hunting for me, and I'm next. This is my last hope, so please just come if you can. If you can't its okay, I understand – so don't get annoyed._

_I know you'll try your hardest._

_I love you. I loved you then and I love you now. I never loved James._

_-Rose Tyler (BAD WOLF)_

The Doctor reads the letter over and over again. And by the thirteenth time, he knows only one thing.

He will save Rose Tyler.

_**Just a oneshot, but review pleaseeee :)))**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**OK well it was meant to be just a oneshot yeah but then my brain went into overdrive so im turning it into a short story, maybe 5 or 6 chapters. reviews please xoxoxo**_

It's quite lonely on the TARDIS without River. The Doctor is so used to at least having her pop her head in every now and then and more frequently after Clara left. The Doctor chuckles at the memory; River and Clara really _did not_ like each other. It didn't help that Clara _really_ fancied The Doctor, and it sort of reminded him of Martha. River would always accuse him of playing up to it, and he would always deny it- but he did play up to it, he liked to watch them both squirm.

But now, the TARDIS is silent. He doesn't have time for a new companion, because he's spending every waking moment searching for rips in the universe, and tears that he can fit the TARDIS through. Rose had been right in her letter, reality had been cracking _badly_ and he's _so close _to making it into Pete's World.

He keeps the letter in his inside pocket always, close to his left heart, so he can feel close to her. It smells just like her. His heightened time lord senses can pick up her scent anywhere, and it intoxicates him to the point where he feels dizzy, and it reminds him of old times, and memories they had shared together. He remembers one particular night in the library with his tenth self and Rose, one night that he would never truly forget,

_He was lying on the sofa in the library, sat up at the armrest reading the 5__th__ Harry Potter book, which he always had said was his favourite. Just as he was about to start chapter six, he heard Rose step into the l__ibrary. He looked up at her sleepy frame standing in the doorway, with her little vest top and pyjama shorts, with little fluffy socks on her feet. By his judgment, TARDIS time it was about 3am._

"_What are you doing up?" he asked her curiously, raising one eyebrow. She walked over so she was standing next to the sofa, and he sat up a bit more. She sat down on the coffee table, and looked down. "I had a nightmare, and I couldn't get back to sleep," she said quietly._

"_Oh Rose, are you okay?" he asked gently, she looked into his eyes and nodded slightly, but he still wasn't convinced. "Come here," he said, gesturing for her to give him a cuddle, she gratefully got up and snuggled into his arms and they laid there on the sofa together. "Tell me what happened." He said._

"_Well, I don't remember much but… I-I lost you. You were gone, and I was running and-and it was the daleks… they were coming after me." She sniffed, as she began to sob quietly into his chest. He cradled her and stroked her golden blonde hair, whispering soothing Gallifreyan into her ears._

"_I promise you Rose, I will never leave you." He said, and she looked up at him with a teary smile, before snuggling back into his chest and falling asleep._

The Doctor smiled fondly at the memory. That night he had almost told her, but he thinks that she knew anyway- even if he was too coward to tell her. Rose was the only person he had ever even bothered _cuddling_ with. He remembered once River had a nightmare about the silence, and Madame Kovarian and he did his best to comfort her, by telling her that they were all gone now, and giving her a reassuring pat on the arm, but it had all been very stiff and strange and absolutely no _cuddling_ was involved.

There are so many things he had shared with Rose that he has never really been able to share with other people. The ways in which they used to cuddle, and how he would stroke her hair, and the little routines they had, like how she would make the tea and he would make the toast, just how she liked it- lightly toasted with butter and jam, and she would make the tea perfect every time just how he liked it, with exactly two and a half sugars and not too much milk. He even got close to her family, good old Jackie Tyler, who he had grown to love. Granted she had slapped him so hard he nearly regenerated, but he did love Jackie- she was a fantastic mother.

Since Rose's departure, he has never really gotten close with many companions families. Martha's mother had hated him, and he had only met Mr Jones, Leo and Tish once or twice. Donna's mother Sylvia hadn't liked him very much either, but he had grown quite attached to her granddad Wilf, who was really the cause of his regeneration. Poor Amelia Pond didn't have parents, well until she did- but she had never asked to visit them. He had met Rory's dad a handful of times, but had never since been able to face him after Rory and Amy got stuck in New York. Clara's parents hadn't liked him very much either, and her brother had perhaps liked him a little _too_ much, much to Rivers annoyance.

But with Rose, she didn't have much family- but he had been accepted by Jackie, Pete, parallel Pete, mickey the idiot and all of her crazy aunties who all seemed to fancy him, much to Rose's annoyance. Although they were all mental, he had loved them all. They had accepted him as Rose's travelling partner, even though they always hinted that he and Rose were _more_ (which in his head they were) and Jackie had accepted him as an alien pretty sharpish.

He chuckles at the memory of the Tylers, with Mickey Smith as their plus one. He thinks about how hard it was for Jackie to bring up Rose on her own, and then look after Mickey too when everyone important to him left him, and how his Nan had fallen down the stairs and died. Mickey had been through so much, even though he never said, The Doctor thinks about visiting him and Martha someday, but then decides against it. The past stays in the past as far as he's concerned… unless it's Rose.

He is pulled out of him chain of thought by a flashing light on the TARDIS monitor. "What is it? What have you found?" he asks aloud. More images pop up on the screen and his eyes widen in delight. "A breach, we've got one! I can get through!" He exclaims excitedly. He begins to run around the console, pressing buttons and pulling leavers and spinning all sorts of random objects. "Watch out Bad Wolf, here I come." He says with a mischievous grin.

Flying into a parallel world is very difficult. He knows that from experience. It should be impossible, and the cracks are hard to find, and even harder to manage. He needs DNA so he can lock onto Rose, and materialise near her, and he hopes that he finds her before his metacrisis clone does. He wonders how long it has been since she last saw him, and he worries what she will think about his regeneration.

He uses the letter she sent him for DNA, it has her fingerprints all over it, and the TARDIS locks onto her position. As he tries to land he is thrown all around the console room, into railings and onto the floor repeatedly. It hurts but he knows it will all be worth it as soon as he sees Rose's beautiful face. She is truly the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in over a thousand years of time and space.

Rose is running. James has tracked her down in this warehouse, and she is running as fast as she can. She can hear his voice calling her. "Rose… oh Rose… comes out come out wherever you are." He says, almost as if this is child's play. Rose is silently praying that The Doctor can find her, and find her soon because she has about twenty minutes before she is dead. She can only run for so long. She can run but she cannot hide because he will find her. If he's managed to track her down out here to Norway, then he can find her anywhere.

Suddenly she rounds a corner, and there he is right in front of her, a sinister grin playing on his lips. "And there she is," he says with an evil glint in his eyes. Before she knows it, he's pointing a gun at her head.

"What happened to you James?" she asks pleadingly, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice.

"You did this to me Rose, _you did this._" He says angrily.

"Well then I'm sorry James, but this isn't the way to solve anything. You're supposed to be The Doctor, but he would never do this would he?"

"Well I'm sorry _Bad Wolf_ but I'm not The Doctor am I? At least you never thought so did you?"

She is about to say something, to plead for him to spare her life, when he cuts her off.

"I would say I'm sorry for this, but I'm not. And now Rose Tyler, I'm going to kill you." He cocks the gun and it whirs, lighting up and Rose squeezes her eyes shut, hoping that it will be quick, when suddenly a voice comes out from behind her.

"Not on my watch." The voice says, and suddenly James is on the floor out cold. Rose turns around and raises her eyebrows at this strange man with floppy hair and a bowtie.

"Is he dead?" she asks, worriedly

"No," says the man "stun gun, he's just out cold for a few hours, now come on- RUN!" he says, as he grabs her hand and they fly around a corner.

"Where are we going?" Rose asks, curious about this stranger

"Just round here, come on." He says, and attempts to take her round another corner but she stops dead in her tracks, a questioning look on her face.

"How do I know you don't work for James?" she asks. The man rolls his eyes slightly, and pulls out something that Rose can almost swear is a sonic screwdriver. Her eyes widen and he says

"Trust me. I'm The Doctor."

Rose just smiles and he grabs her hand and they run, round corners and through aisles all throughout the warehouse until they stop in front of something Rose never thought she'd see again.

"The TARDIS" she says joyfully, and The Doctor smiles at her. Rose strokes the side of it gently, as if she'd never ever leave it again. Hopefully she never ever will.

"I can't believe you found me," she says as The Doctor pulls her inside

"I can't believe I ever let you go." The Doctor says. She's _very_ aware of how close he is standing to her as he practically whispers the words. His voice, his _new new new_ voice sends chills up her spine. But just as she is about to practically jump him, he swiftly turns and runs up to the console.

"Now Rose Tyler, time to get out of here. This reality is about to crack like an egg and for once there is nothing I can do about it." He pulls down a leaver and looks over at her "Let's go home" he says with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

He doesn't ask her about the scars down her back as they lay there together in his bed, wrapped together tightly as if they were waiting out a storm, and she doesn't ask him why he's alone and who he has travelled with since her, considering he seems a lot sadder and more distant than he used to.

They just lay there together in silence, and for once the silence doesn't seem so bad.

She has seen things that he wouldn't believe, and so has he but they don't talk about them. She doesn't even ask about his regeneration, apart from the one lingering question on her mind.

"Were you alone?"

"What?"

Rose sighs slightly, afraid of the answer, "Were you alone when you regenerated?" she asks, after about ten seconds of silence.

The Doctor swallows slightly, and closes his eyes. "Yes." he barley whispers into her ear.

Upon hearing the word, she turns around to face his new face, and strokes it gently. He flinches slightly at her touch, finding it alarming yet alluring at the same time, and it's not long before his eyes are open again, and he his holding her hand against his face. He see's things in her eyes, and notice that they look a lot older than the rest of her. He doesn't ask why she hasn't aged, because part of him doesn't care. All he cares about is that she is here, with him, and she is definitely not River.

"You're right." She says after a few more minutes of peaceful silence, laying there holding each other.

"About what?" he asks

"I haven't aged. But I'm not going to tell you why."

He just stares into her eyes, trying to scan for an answer, but gives up soon, and just holds her against him.

"Okay." He eventually says, and quickly let's all of his worries melt away.

The next morning, he wakes up- and quickly feels a sense of relief when he realises that Rose is still there, and was definitely not a dream or a cruel trick of his subconscious after losing River.

He smiles gently, as he sees how they have moved around in the night, and how she is asleep with her head in his chest, her golden hair splayed around them both and he sighs in contentment, because he hasn't felt peace like this in a long time.

He has to get up eventually, so he gently sets Rose's head down under a pillow, before giving her a light kiss on the forehead and getting dressed. He is dead set on taking Rose to the most amazing place he can think of, because she deserves that in the least.

The scars on her skin look somewhat fresh, like they had only just properly healed, so he thinks that she has faced enough hardship. He doesn't know how long it has been for her, and what kind of hardships she has faced, so she deserves some kind of reward at least.

He runs his hand through his hair and thinks of where they could possibly go. Rose deserves so much, and he knows that he can only give her so little. He can't bring her parents back, or her brother and he can't always keep her safe.

He leans against the console, wondering, when Rose walks in, unfortunately fully clothed.

"Whatcha thinking about?" she asks, as she walks over, giving him a kiss on the cheek and sitting herself down opposite him in the jump seat

"I'm just thinking that I do not deserve you. Not in the slightest." He says quietly, lowering his head slightly

"Oi, stop thinking like that yeah? If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead in that warehouse, by James' hand. No scrap that, I'd have died in that stupid shop, with no one to hold my hand and whisper run." By this point she's standing up and has her hand laced in his. He looks up at her and smiles, his fantastic Rose Tyler- defender of the earth, he may not deserve her right now- but he can try to prove to himself that he might someday.

Out of nowhere he just kisses her, because he's happy for her to just be there, in front of him- and know that she isn't leaving, not this time. And she kisses back, because she loves to see him happy. He's tried so hard to get to her, and now that he's found her- he never wants to let her go again. And she understands this, because she feels exactly the same. She's got her doctor, not a clone or a copy or a fake who will turn evil or anything ridiculous like that- she's got her _real_ doctor, with to hearts and a bowtie and a head full of so much stuff that he needs a bigger one.

And she is never, ever letting him go again.

-fin-

_**so yeah I didn't want to drag this out longer than it needed to be- because I knew that if I did it would just turn too fluffy and sickly when I did want to keep it as mostly angst-y type fluff. I let go at the end though, which is just the right amount of sappiness that I can handle.**_

_**This is the last chapter, finito, done ect ect but I may write an epilogue- not sure yet. Oh and i'm nearly dont with The Doctors Daughter chapter 2, so look out for that one. and be patient for journeys end because its a tricky thing to write - but it is coming okay? i prooommiiisseeee**_


End file.
